Changed - On Hold
by I-Ship-Rickyl
Summary: "Lee's horror soon turned to anger, and he stabbed the walker in the head. It fell to the ground, and Lee continued to beat it's face until it was just a bloody mess. Tears of anger were stinging his eyes as he turned to Kenny's corpse."
1. The Beginning

**A/N: Alright, I think I'm going to re-write it. Enjoy! I'm also changing things up a bit.  
**

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After miles and miles of walking, the duo came upon a bridge leading into the city of Galveston. On each side, there were faded blue signs with white letters spelling out G-A-L-V-E-S-T-O-N. They stopped before crossing.

"Does it look safe to cross?" Kenny asked. The pair had become much more cautious in the past two years; they wanted to be extra careful once they found Clementine. Lee eyed the bridge. It looked lightly crumbled in spots.

"Maybe if we're careful, we can cross. But other than that..." Lee trailed off, signaling that he disliked the fact that they had to cross a bridge that had been crumbling for two years.

"Is there a way around?" Kenny asked, not really wanting to go on the bridge that seemed to be a death trap. Lee glanced around, but all he could see was the bay that prevented them from crossing to the other side of the city.

"Not that I can see. You know what, Kenny? Perhaps we should try to get up to that 'Wellington' place we heard of a few months ago. Chances are Clementine could be there." Lee suggested, not wanting Kenny to snap at him because he was so dead-set on finding a boat. Lee noticed Kenny looked a bit... annoyed, to say the least, but he finally opened his mouth to say something.

"That sounds like a better plan. A boat was a shitty idea in the first place," Kenny sighed, defeat audible in his voice.

"Hey, it'll be fine. Besides, on a boat, where would we get our food anyways? Rumor has it that this place has a lot of food." Lee assured his friend.

"Okay, let's get going. We came so far south, and now we have to go all the way to Michigan," Kenny sighed.

"At least we're okay on food. We've got maybe two weeks' left, and we don't eat much anymore anyways," Lee reminded Kenny. The pair had gotten used to having an empty stomach. After all, they've been in this mess for two years. Who would've thought that it would last this long? Lee had expected this to clear up in a few days, but after that, then what? I guess he'd never figure it out, because this wasn't getting any easier. The pair had been walking for maybe only fifteen minutes, and the heat of summer was already making Lee sweat.

"So, what month do you think we're in now?" Kenny asked, curious. They'd never really kept track of the time anymore, as it didn't really matter.

"Maybe mid-July. Damn, wasn't it around July or August when this started?" Lee replied.

"Holy shit. I never... expected to last this long. After... after Duck, I figured I was done for." Kenny said, saddening up at the thought of his family.

"I never expected cutting off my arm to work. It was worth it though. If Clementine had to lose me..." Lee responded, agony making him flinch as he thought of how Clementine would've reacted. Little did he know that she thought he was already dead.

"Yeah. The sun's going down. Perhaps we could bunker down in that old gas station?" Kenny questioned, gesturing to a worn down 'Valero Corner Store' on the other side of the street.

"Let's check inside just to be sure," Lee suggested, not wanting to get bit in a more fatal spot this time.

"Yeah, let's get going before it's too damn dark to see a thing." Kenny said as the duo began jogging over. Lee opened the door and his eyes widened. The shelves were still nearly fully stocked with candies, chips, snack bars, and drinks. Even if the drinks were warm, they were better than nothing.

"Ho-ly shit," Lee said, his mouth now agape at what he saw. The pair immediately began shoving the foods and drinks into their packs until they cleared out all the shelves.

"Now we have maybe three months worth of food!" Lee cheered. A single walker must've shambled from the bathroom when they were gathering food, because soon Lee was ass-down on the floor, wrestling a walker.

"Get off of me, sonuvabitch!" Lee growled, struggling for his knife he kept in his pocket. He couldn't reach. Being one handed, if he reached for his knife, the walker would get him.

"Kenny, HELP!" Lee cried as another walker shambled out of the bathrooms. Kenny killed the one on top of Lee and he immediately jumped up, knife in hand. He stabbed the other one through the chin, and the duo stayed in their protective stance until they were sure there were no more.

"Shit..." Lee breathed. "That was close."

"No shit. Perhaps we should go in the bathroom and board up the doors for the night..." Kenny suggested. Lee nodded and the pair went into the bathroom, checking each stall, but there was nothing. Kenny and Lee ripped a stall door off and assembled it in front of the door to where it was blocking anything from getting in.

"I think... I think we can rest now," Lee sighed as he slumped against the wall. He drifted off into another night full of nightmares.

oOo

 _"Shiiiit. Lee, wake up pal. We... gotta go. Now," Kenny urged. Lee opened his eyes groggily to see Kenny in front of him, worry visible on his face._

 _"Huh... why?" Lee asked, still half asleep. Just as he said that, walkers began to bang on the door._

 _"That's why," Kenny whispered in reply. Lee stood up, but put a finger to his lips._

 _"Let's just wait them out. Maybe they'll pass." Lee suggested. Kenny nodded and they waited in silence, until the door burst open and..._

oOo

"Lee! Wake up man!" Kenny said, shaking Lee. His eyes burst open and he was covered in sweat.

"W-what?!" Lee yelped, only to realize that he'd had yet another nightmare.

"What's the matter?" Kenny questioned.

"J-just a nightmare." Lee replied, still recovering from the dream that had seemed so real.

"Well, we better get a move on. Staying in the same place for too long is a mistake," Kenny suggested. The words reminded Lee of when he first met Clementine, because those were Shaun's words to him. He shook the thoughts away and gave a nod. They pulled the stall door off and left the corner store. They had a long day of traveling ahead of them.

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 **A/N: Was that better? I sure think it was. And I think it was longer too. Please leave a review or two; they're greatly appreciated.**


	2. Water!

**A/N: And we're back with the story! I really like how last chapter turned out. Anyway, review time!  
**

 **Epic Hobo Chuck: I'm glad to see myself back, too! XD And yeah, totally the best place. *sarcasm* XD**

 **smeake: Yeah, I think it's a bit better too.**

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 _Three Days Later  
_

Lee and Kenny had been walking for three days, and let's just say it wasn't going to well. Some random group of people with guns and knives stole _both_ of their packs, leaving them without food. Luckily, their weapons weren't in the packs at the time, so they still were able to defend themselves. They'd tried to fight off the robbers, but there were more robbers than there were of Lee and Kenny. There was no way they'd make it out of there unscathed unless they gave up their supplies. Lee glanced up at the sun, and, based on its position, it was late morning or early noon. It felt like mid-noon due to the blazing heat. They'd just left Houston a few hours ago.

"Well, it's been shitty, huh?" Lee questioned his companion.

"What has? The past few days, or this whole situation?" Kenny replied.

"Everything." Lee sighed. He wished things were back to normal, but at the same time, he didn't. If they were normal, he'd be behind bars right now, and he never would've met Clementine. Despite the circumstances, he'd made pretty good friends in this mess. Unfortunately, most of them were dead by now. All that was left were Clem and Ken.

"Yeah, it sure has been... well, shitty." Kenny stated. Lee gave a sigh and glanced up at a tree. It reminded him of how things used to be, before the dead started to roam and eat the living. An all too familiar noise snapped him out of his thoughts. Lee pulled out his knife, not wanting to risk the noise nor the ammo. His Glock 17 remained in the back of his waistband, where he'd been keeping it for as long as he could remember. He crouched behind the tree he was looking at moments ago, Kenny following close behind. He glanced from behind cover out onto the street they were just on. A lone walker shambled down the road, slowly but surely passing by them. He glanced on the other side to be sure no walkers were coming.

"It's clear," he whispered once he was sure they were out of earshot of the lone walker. Kenny gave a nod and they sneaked out of cover, trying to keep quiet until they were a good distance from the walker that was walking to Houston. Once in the clear, Lee gave a thumbs up. Kenny let out a sigh of relief.

"Never get used to it... the walkers, I mean," Kenny told Lee.

"Yeah, I wouldn't think you could. Knowing you could be eaten alive any second... it's like a living nightmare." Lee replied.

"It _is_ a living nightmare, Lee. This is the kind of stuff we used to watch in the movie theaters for chills and thrills," Kenny corrected.

"True... I never expected this to actually... happen. The first day I found out about this - when I was on my way to jail - I couldn't believe my eyes. I wanted to wake up, thinking it was a nightmare, but it's not." Lee admitted. "Actually... it all makes sense now."

"What makes sense?" Kenny questioned.

"When I was still in the car, there were so many SWAT cars and police cars going by, back to Atlanta. I even saw a chopper. I thought nothing of it for a while, but now it makes sense." Lee answered. Kenny looked lost in thought, so Lee just let him be. Three days just to walk through one city. At this rate, it'd take _months_ to get to Michigan, maybe even a year. He just hoped that Clementine was there. If not, he had no idea what he'd do. He decided just to stick to positive thoughts for now, as it was all he had left.

oOo

Night was falling, and the two were still looking for a place to bunker down for the night. They were in a neighborhood, but they weren't sure of where they were.

"Let's go into this house," Lee stated, pointing to a house that was actually decently boarded up. The door was wide open though, signifying that no one had been in there for a while. Lee pulled out his knife, ready to inspect the house and kill any walkers that threatened their existence... in other words, he was ready to kill any walker in the house. He slowly made his way up the driveway - Kenny not too far behind - and into the house. Once Kenny was in, he closed the door and locked it, not wanting any unwanted company to find its way inside the house. Lee heard groaning from the living room, but it sounded like the monster had not accounted for their arrival. Lee put a finger to his lips, that way he could kill the walker in the room without it killing him or Kenny first. He sneaked into the living room and his eyes widened. Sitting in the living room looked to be what was once a teenager, but she was now a walker. It had a knife in its chest, signaling that she was either murdered or she killed herself. Feeling a bit of sympathy for what once must've been a happy girl, he stepped over and stabbed the knife into its head. He released a breath of relief. He slumped down on the couch and fell into a deep sleep.

oOo

Lee awoke to the sun shining directly in his eyes. Usually that wasn't how he woke up, but since he was in a house, it was different.

"Kenny?" Lee muttered groggily. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to where Kenny was supposed to be, but he wasn't. He stood up and heard rustling in te kitchen. He pulled his knife out, prepared for the worst. He'd became more skilled with his knife, as he used it more than his Glock. He inched toward the kitchen, only to find Kenny rustling through the cabinets.

"Shit, man. You scared me." Lee stated, surprising Kenny.

"Oh, you're up. You won't _believe_ what I found." Kenny replied.

"What did you find?" Lee asked curiously.

"Well, I didn't really _find_ anything, but I discovered something."

"Okay... then what did you discover?" Lee asked once more. Kenny turned to the sink and pulled one of the faucet handles. Suddenly, water spurted out of the nozzle into the sink before flowing normally.

"Shit! Wait, this place's got water?" Lee asked.

"Sure does!" Kenny practically cheered.

"How?" Lee wondered. Wouldn't the water be shut off by now?

"Does it matter? We can actually shower for once!" Kenny responded.

"True... and we could probably use that sink to wash our clothes... I think we should stay here. At least for a little bit, to get back on track," Lee stated.

"Yeah, so do I."

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 **A/N: Not very action filled, but it's an adventure all right! They've found a house with... water! Yay! XD Alright, I'm going. See ya next chapter! Psst, don't forget to review...**


	3. A Life Changing Event

**A/N: WHOA. Has it really been a MONTH since I updated this?! Gosh I've been lazy. Sorry to leave you guys without anything for so long, I've just been being a lazy butt. I've also been in really deep thought and just dug myself out of the like ten foot deep hole of thoughts. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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Lee and Kenny were catching up on their sleep now that they both were hydrated, clean, and had clean clothes. Low snores came from the both of them, but not loud enough to attract walkers. Lee woke up and rubbed his eyes.

 _'Shit,'_ Lee thought. It was already getting dark out. The duo had filled numerous water bottles with water and were planning on leaving at dusk, but it seemed around midnight already. Lee decided to sit on the porch and wait for Kenny to wake up so they could continue on their journey. He gazed up at the sky, and it seemed there were more stars in the sky.

 _'One star for everyone we've lost.'_ Lee thought glumly. He nearly wanted to slap himself for thinking that; he needed to stay strong. For Clementine. For him. For everyone. Lee looked around the neighborhood. It seemed oddly plain; all the houses were white with a navy blue roof. All the windows had boards. Typical. Everyone freaked out and tried to keep their family safe. It seemed as if that wasn't the case, at least not anymore. Lee wasn't sure how many people were left, not anymore. Certainly this must be a world wide case, no? Everyone in his old group had always tried to keep high spirits - except Kenny, at times - but everyone snaps eventually. Lee mentally promised himself that he wouldn't give up, despite what some of his darkest thoughts were. Thoughts that everyone had at times, but eventually learned to keep going.

"Lee? Where are ya, man?" Lee heard Kenny call from inside, but not too loudly.

"Out here," Lee whisper-yelled back to his companion. Kenny walked out of the house and onto the porch.

"We overslept, huh?" Kenny asked.

"Yeah, but not like it matters. We're still continuing either way," Lee stated. Kenny gave a small nod.

"When should we leave? I thought we were going to stay for a while," Kenny questioned.

"We leave now. No point in waiting around for nothing. We've rested up, and we've got water... shit! We still need food," Lee said. As if on cue, his stomach growled as he finished his sentence.

"That's true, but where do you suggest we get food? It doesn't exactly grow on trees, Lee," Kenny stated.

"You're a genius, Kenny! We just need to find a fruit tree. Food _does_ grow on trees sometimes, Ken," Lee replied with a small grin on his face.

"I feel like an idiot," Kenny mumbled. Lee just chuckled slightly at the statement, earning him a half-hearted glare from Kenny. Lee walked through the house and out the back, where he discovered an apple tree.

"Ken! Out here!" Lee whispered, but loud enough for Kenny to hear. Soon enough, Kenny had came through the back door and was staring at the tree in awe.

"I guess all our hope paid off," Lee said. Kenny gave a nod before looking around for a ladder.

"There's no ladder back here. Maybe we should check the garage?" Kenny suggested.

"Sure. If not, I'm just going to climb this damn tree. I'm starving," Lee responded. Kenny chuckled a little bit along with Lee before going to check for a ladder.

"Found one," Kenny said with a smile on his face as he leaned the ladder against the tree.

"Why didn't we look back here sooner?" Lee questioned.

"We had water, so we were too busy sleeping and washing up." Kenny answered. Lee nodded before climbing up the ladder - which reminded him of Savannah on the hospital roof, but he demanded himself not to think about that - and getting into the tree.

"We need a basket of some sort, or a plastic tub... _something._ " Lee told Kenny.

"Well, that should be simple... hopefully," Kenny said.

"Why don't I just pass the apples to you? You can put them in one of our packs... the one without the water," Lee said.

"On it," Kenny said, racing inside to get the pack.

"Things are going to be okay. This is our world now, but it's going to be okay," Lee whispered to reassure himself. He waited a while, swinging his legs and eating an apple as he waited for Kenny's return.

"He's taking too long. It's been five minutes," Lee stated, his forehead creased with worry. He climbed down the ladder - and threw the core on the ground - to go inside to look for Kenny. He pulled his knife out of his pocket - you could never be sure - and opened the back door.

"Ken? You in here?" Lee called. He heard groaning in the living room and turned to the front door.

"Shit. Left it open," Lee mumbled to himself as he inched towards the living room. He walked through the doorway and nearly vomited and passed out at what he saw. With his mouth agape and his eyes widened in horror, Lee couldn't even react to what he saw. On the ground was a walker, digging in to what was once Lee's best friend. Lee's horror soon turned to anger, and he stabbed the walker in the head. It fell to the ground, and Lee continued to beat it's face until it was just a bloody mess. Tears of anger were stinging his eyes as he turned to Kenny's corpse. Not wanting his friend to become one of those things, he closed his eyes and shoved the knife into Kenny's head. Lee pulled it out without looking before grabbing the bag of water, not even looking back as he left the house.

oOo

Lee wasn't sure how far north he had gotten, but it'd been a year and a half or so. He was sure he'd traveled far, because snow was drifting to the ground. It seemed to be mid-December. Lee was exhausted. The last of the deer he'd hunted a few days ago was almost out, and he was already out of water. He hadn't been able to sleep for three days. Purple bags ringed his eyes. He'd managed to find a leather jacket from a walker who was once a motorcyclist. It wasn't exactly warm, but it protected him from the walker bite. He'd cut off part of the right sleeve so it wouldn't look weird due to him having a stump. Lee had been practically stumbling through the snow for maybe three hours. He wanted to sleep, but there was no where he could sleep safely. He noticed a house looking structure and decided to head to it. Once he arrived, he could barely read the sign saying 'Moonstar Lodge' before passing out in the snow just before the lodge.

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 **A/N: Plot twist! I hated to kill Kenny, but it had to be done. I had no use for him anymore. I'm going to be renaming this story, so feel free to leave name suggestions in the reviews. Also, Lee has been affected so emotionally throughout the apocalypse. I may be adding my own twists to his character, changing the way his emotions work, as stated here; "Lee's horror soon turned to anger, and he stabbed the walker in the head. It fell to the ground, and Lee continued to beat it's face until it was just a bloody mess. Tears of anger were stinging his eyes as he turned to Kenny's corpse." I enjoy adding my own twists to characters because it's easier for me to write them that way. Anyways, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out but I can assure you it won't be more than a week or two. I will be reading other stories and reviewing, so shoot me a PM! :)  
**

 _ **This is Pain, signing out.**_


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